#250posts24hrsAAPI - 28: P.S. I'm Hoping For The Best For Kim Hak-Song And Tony Kim

Honestly, I have no idea what they hell is going on in North Korea (but does anyone?) - but something must be getting into the kimchi there because I'm just wondering when the next U.S. citizen is going to get taken hostage.

Because what would you call it?

Detained?

Yeah - okay.

You say tomato. I say tamato.

#250posts24hrsAAPI - 27: Op-Ed - Korean. American. Dual Citizenship. Louis Oh

Here's a link to an article down at The Daily Northwestern from a few days ago, on being Korean American and having dual citizenship.

Four years ago, I wrote about “identity” for my college applications. Naturally, I was advised against the overdone topic, but I thought I was onto something. My story was centered on a life-altering legal decision: to be among the first generation maintaining dual Korean and American citizenship through adulthood. At the time, the full implications of this were unclear, but I believed my choice spoke something important about who I am. I am not just Korean American; I am Korean and American. I was born in the United States but my Korean parents entitled me to a Korean citizenship. Many Korean Americans are born this way with the understanding that someday they would renounce one of the two, as Korea did not accept dual-citizen adults at the time [...]

In 2011, the year I turned 18, it was time to decide, but it wasn’t so simple anymore. Amendments to citizenship law that year allowed certain exceptions for those who are born with multiple nationalities. However, it came with stipulations: One must sign a legal agreement not to exercise foreign citizenship on Korean soil. In addition to taxes and travel rules to abide by, the biggest consequence was that I would be conscripted.

Hopefully Louis Oh will one day feel a little less lost and be able to tell you where he's from (as he has a lot of time ahead of him).

Either way - good read.

#250posts24hrsAAPI - 26: From The EEOC With A Noose

Checking in on the EEOC I'm glad to see this company paid out about 120K for discrimination.

Fracking Company Fired Black Employee After He Complained That Coworkers Used a White Hood to Harass Him, Federal Agency Charged

HOUSTON -A Houston manufacturer of equipment used in hydraulic fracturing ("fracking") has agreed to pay a former employee $120,000 and provide other relief to settle a retaliatory discrimination lawsuit brought by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the agency announced today.

In its lawsuit, the EEOC charged Downhole Technology, LLC with violating federal law when it retaliated against employee Kenneth Echols after he complained that he had been racially harassed. Echols, who is African-American, reported that his coworkers had used a white hood - evocative of the type used by the Ku Klux Klan - to intimidate, ridicule, and insult him. The EEOC alleged that in response to Echols's complaint, the company told him that the incident was meant as a joke. The company then fired Echols for refusing to sign a declaration stating that it had adequately responded to his complaint regarding the incident. Before reporting the incident, Echols's record with the company was unblemished, the EEOC said.

This conduct, the EEOC said, violated Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits an employer from discriminating against - or allowing coworkers to harass - an employee because of the employee's race. That act also prohibits an employer from retaliating against an employee for reporting discrimination, including harassment.

The EEOC filed its lawsuit (Civil Action No. 4:17-CV-00574) in the Houston Division of U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas after first attempting to reach a pre-litigation settlement through its conciliation process. Shortly after the lawsuit was filed, the EEOC and the company resolved the claim, which led to the two-year consent decree announced today.

Under that decree, Downhole Technology will pay Echols $120,000 in monetary relief and will provide a variety of other, non-monetary relief. For instance, the decree requires that Downhole train its employees, including its supervisors, on the requirements imposed by Title VII, and also educate them about the history of hate groups, their symbols and the harm they cause to others. Downhole will also revamp its anti-discrimination policy and establish a toll-free telephone number through which employees will be able to report discrimination and harassment.

"This settlement is both fair and just," said Rudy Sustaita, regional attorney for the EEOC's Houston District Office. "I'm confident that Downhole is now as committed as we are in ensuring that incidents of race-based harassment are treated with the seriousness and gravity the law demands."

Ummm yeah....because we've come that far?

#250posts24hrsAAPI - 25: It's Time For Tóc Tiên. Walk Away (Hãy Bước Đi)

Released earlier this month.

1.5 million + views.

Say yes to Viet Pop.

Damn that's good!

#250posts24hrsAAPI - 24: More Writers. More Goodness. More Kev Minh Allen

Hopefully you've been able to view some of Vietnamese American and TRA Kev Minh Allen's work and if you haven't (for some odd reason) you can check out some pieces from eastlit from a few months ago (which I swear I posted up on but either my eyes are bad, or apparently I have a disease where I think I post on things, but I don't).

A quick few stanzas from his poem "Redistribution":

Legs fused together inside the birth canal.
An amalgam only seen in an anomalous world.
No blanket to cover, no need to unsee the stares.
No hiding behind comfort talk.
Mother on the run and Child on a magic carpet ride.

P.S.

I hear a couple of new books are on their way from him.

Ssshhh.

#250posts24hrsAAPI - 23: NY Times E-Book Fiction Best Sellers (No Asian Americans)

I'm not saying this is a fault of the NY Times.

But when I was checking out the NY Times Best Sellers For E-Book Fiction List I had to ask myself how come I don't see one Asian American.

I mean - not even one (at least that I'm aware of and feel free to correct me)?

Really?

Even though there are so many of them that we can buy and choose from, not one has cracked at least this list currently?

#250posts24hrsAAPI - 22: Speaking Of Writers. When's That Next Lac Su Book Coming Out?

Seriously.

When is that next book coming out?

Inquiring minds want to know.

And by inquiring minds, I mean me.

And by wondering I mean I'm gonna post it versus sending a text.

Because I figure why not?

Other people want to know too.

#250posts24hrsAAPI - 21: In Pics - Retro Lê Thị Diễm Thúy

Just because I can.

And because The Gangster We Are All Looking For is still one of my all time favorite reads.

Like forever.

Like forever forever.

#250posts24hrsAAPI - 20: David So + Leaving You Tube For A Bit

Definitely love David So and all that he's doing so he definitely needs a break from YouTube.

Hope to see him back from YouTube and I love what he's talking about here.

Because you have to take care of yourself.

Self care.

We all need it.

P.S.

Hope to see the new TV projects.

#250posts24hrsAAPI - 19: Marie Digby + Linger

Bringing me back.

#250posts24hrsAAPI - 19: Apparently I'm Off Schedule On This Quest Already

I have to average approximately 10 posts every hour (minimum) to get this quest completed.

I seem to be off average already - and I blame it on the hot dog.

And as K-Wife says - myself as well.

Oh lord what I have I gotten my Asian ass into (see how pulled this post through though?).

Maybe I do peter out at 110....

And yes - I'm counting this as a post.

Get your own quest.

#250posts24hrsAAPI - 18: Reason I'm Not A Good Asian #152: I Don't Always Wash My Rice

Part of the reason I'm posting this is because I just made a hot dog - because I need sustenance - and I don't have time to make myself anything right now (and K-Wife and Co are watching a movie) which includes rice which made me think about how I don't always wash my rice because I'm just too damn lazy.

Sure I just need to do the loop and pour some water out and then I'd be done with it.

But again - sometimes I'm just lazy.

#250posts24hrsAAPI - 17: Read It: Asian Americans + Hollywood + NPR

A good article down @ Codeswitch:

Ask some actors about their dream role, and they're likely to offer range of answers: a character from Shakespeare, a superhero, the lead in Phantom of the Opera. As for Daniel Dae Kim, a Korean-American actor who's had roles in Lost, Crash, and most recently Hawaii Five-0, his dream is to play a romantic lead. Any romantic lead. But Kim said that there's a reluctance on the part of many studio heads to cast Asian-American actors in romantic roles. He said he has asked people in every level of the film industry for data to show that casting white actors is more profitable, and they can't provide any. "It's just this institutionalized thinking," he said. "[They] have it in their minds that it cannot be that way."

Read it in full.

#250posts24hrsAAPI - 16: RE: Lavinia Woodward + Is This How It Feels To Be A White Woman?

Seriously...

Could I get away with stabbing someone? Even if I was going to be an awesome doctor (although not the one Alec Baldwin played in Malice - which I really don't remember except for some of those scenes where he just goes off)?

Probably not.

In fact - they would have already probably lost me down the hole...

But - you know - how good it must be to be a White Woman in some of these situations - because I'm not saying all situations get preferential treatment...

Just sometimes...

#250posts24hrsAAPI - 15: I Need To Watch Shu Qi + My Best Friend's Wedding

If you've ever read this blog, you know I kind of love Shu Qi - and honestly - I had no idea this remake was out there - and I'll have to see it because you know - it's a remake (and finally one without White People in Asian roles) and you know - I love Shu Qi.

#250posts24hrsAAPI - 14: A Random Moana Mashup

Just in case you haven't heard this before - and yes, I know not everyone liked this movie and there has been some discussion on it since it's been out (albeit, the film has become a movie at least I know a lot of AAPI kids like) - I don't know if you can really say much about the music.

And for the record, I liked the movie just on its own merits.

#250posts24hrsAAPI - 13: Get To Know Elaine Chao

Since I just posted on the current White House and President I thought I'd also post some links up on Elaine Chao, who even though Asian American, sits on a cabinet that doesn't have anyone from the Latinx community on it (and is the first to do since 1989) - because you know - it's important (or at least semi-newsworthy) no matter her political affiliation.

And when I say links I guess I only mean:

http://www.elainelchao.com/ and this news article on the Caltrain electrification grant:

U.S. Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao isn’t budging on approving federal funds to help the Bay Area begin the electrification of Caltrain tracks.

Chao said at a hearing Wednesday morning of the Senate Environment and Public Works committee that she won’t sign off on a funding agreement necessary to release federal funds for the project, even as a critical June 30 funding deadline looms.

#250posts24hrsAAPI - 12: Damn White People. Even You Didn't Think Trump Would Be This Bad

Yeah, I know, I know - not everyone who voted for Trump is a racist, and yes, I know, they just were looking past his faults because they truly believed he could turn this country around (even though by looking past his racist diatribes technically we could at least call them racially insensitive...).

But where has this gotten us as a country now?

Not very far has it?

And that's what happens when we look past faults we know we shouldn't because we're hoping for something more.

I'm hoping for an impeachment.

#250posts24hrsAAPI - 11: Women Of Color In STEM Degrees (AKA Apple WTF?)

I was reading this article on Apple a couple days ago and I had to think to myself how does that do anything for anyone including women of color to help with the equity in having women and women of color in tech?

Or is it all about the age versus gender?

While I think it could have to do with both, and no offense dads (because I'm one as well) - women are the ones who are having the babies and need to take time off and again - sorry dads - being able to be around your kids when they are younger - because kids need their moms in those early stages, especially if you know - they love the boob (like my child) - and it only helps in their development.

To me it makes a direct statement on the value of work and life balance and what should matter the most.

Which doesn't include family - and I wonder how that shapes the minds and the direction of young women who want to get into tech.

Sure this thought isn't completely fleshed out - but you get what I'm saying right?

In a way it says - don't think about having any children and creating a family and that tech doesn't want you.

Even though it says it does.

#250posts24hrsAAPI - 10: Forty-Two Years After The Fall Of Saigon

Really good read down at diaCRITICS from Linh Dinh on censure and oppression after the fall of Saigon.

I’ve only been to New Haven four times, and last week, it was only to participate in the commemoration of the Fall of Saigon, as organized by the Vietnamese Studies Program at Yale. I was one of three poets invited. The other two were Phan Nhien Hao (b. 1967) and To Thuy Yen (b. 1938).

I’m the translator of the only book by Hao in English, Night, Fish and Charlie Parker (2005). I first met Hao in Saigon in 2000, and we’ve hung out in San Jose, Illinois and Philly. I’ve even bought a used car from the man. We’re friends, in short. Hao’s father died while fighting for South Vietnam in 1975.